ART 380: Starting off Semester 1 (Statement of Intent)
During the summer holidays, I had little time to spare for any creative outlets, on my few days off I began skateboarding again after a one year hiatus from the hobby/sport. What I love about skateboarding is it allows free movement and expression, you can create what you want through physical skill and determination, very similar to my studio practices and something I want to explore as a combination. I want to make art using skateboarding as a “tool” or “paint” for the canvas, exploring and creating art through movement as a concept, finding patterns designs and similarities created through this movement.
Urban art, streetwear and culture have been greatly influenced by skateboarding over the years and to the present day, using the board as a brush and the urban landscape as a blank canvas for free expression and movement. Creating my own clothing and products such as stickers and posters that reflect or are influenced by the work that I will create using these key ideas. Physical skill and knowledge, as well as background history on the subject are an absolute necessity, and connections to the skateboarding community would aid me greatly, I have both of these requirements and a large amount of background experience and research on the sport, giving me a creative advantage and making for a great project.
Understanding street/urban art, streetwear (brands) and culture, as well as its origins, are crucial to understanding my own work and further developing my studio practice this year. Last year I did a lot of research on artists John Cage and Merce Cunningham, artists who explored ideas of time-based media and movement through art or to create art. This is still valuable research I can carry into my current practice. Susan Philipsz’s work that utilises installations in an urban setting is also something I can use as further inspiration for my practice. However, my work would utilise physical objects within the space themselves, possibly as an obstacle or something that can be used to get over an obstacle. Pop art that encapsulates urban, political and social commentary for the time is also something I could research and possibly implement into my own work, such as the ground-breaking work of Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.
Success and failure of a piece of work will be determined by measuring its pros and cons, and how relevant/significant it is to the projects direction. I always try to maintain a steady stream of innovative and interesting ideas, as well as unique conceptual themes I will try to communicate to the audience. In this instance, success will be determined by how clear and concise these ideas are to the audience and what concepts are visualised by others during my upcoming critiques. I will definitely be trying new materials and working processes, as I think it will benefit the variety of my work and encourage new ideas and themes into my studio practice.
I intend to spend a long period of time in the studio, as my work requires a large amount of floor space to be conducted. Bi-weekly visits to galleries and events will be thoroughly encouraged, but I hope to have at least a handful of both professional and independent/D.I.Y arts & culture institutions/events. Booking time slots for as many tutor and possible is essential for me, as I need varied critical opinions on my practice and what can be done to improve it. I need to book sessions in printmaking and wood workshops/tutorials, as well as allocate time and money for materials, because I intend to build large sculptures for skateboarding and/or painting onto. Printmaking will enable me to create various items of clothing, as well as posters that could tie in with the themes in my project I hope to explore through my practice this year.